Jets’ Trouba recalls aftermath of concussion

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This article was published 31/03/2018 (2719 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — Jacob Trouba’s recollection of the moments immediately after the hit is still hazy, and the Winnipeg Jets defenceman admits he felt some uneasiness about that lack of clarity.

Trouba was hurt March 18 after taking a hard hit from Dallas Stars winger Jamie Benn and was diagnosed with a concussion two days later. He missed five games, but returned to the lineup Saturday night in a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs and was reunited with Josh Morrissey on Winnipeg’s top pairing.

Defenceman Tucker Poolman was bumped from the lineup and watched from the press box, along with forwards Jack Roslovic, Shawn Matthias, Marko Dano and goalie Steve Mason.

Trouba significantly beefs up a blue-line corps already absent Dmitry Kulikov and Toby Enstrom — one-third of the club’s optimal starting six.

Speaking after the morning skate, Trouba, 24, said he recalls details of the thunderous collision near the Jets blue line, but has only vague flashes of his helpless struggle to stand before being aided by his teammates and taken by trainers to the dressing room.

“I remember bits and pieces of that. There’s that initial shock, just not really realizing what happened,” he said. “You’re in a little bit of a daze and that sets into not a panic, but a little bit of you starts thinking about it too much and it gets into your own head.

“It was weird. The initial shock is what bugged me. There weren’t any initial symptoms, but I’ve never gone through anything like that.”

The concussion was a first for the Michigan product, occurring in just his second game back after being sidelined for 20 straight contest with a high ankle sprain in Anaheim on Jan. 25.

Trouba was trying to catch Benn with an open-ice hit and took an inadvertent shoulder to the jaw from the Stars’ 6-2, 210-pound captain.

“The way I turned, I think he turned his shoulders pretty well parallel to mine and he’s a little bigger than me and I guess his shoulder hit me right in the jaw. I don’t think it was dirty by any means, it’s just one of those flukey plays that happened,” Trouba said.

The team’s medical staff gave him the green light to head home that night, but his teammate and buddy, Andrew Copp, tagged along to play nursemaid.

Trouba said he experienced no symptoms the next morning.

“I’ve never really had one of those injuries. I didn’t really have any symptoms. From the next morning on, I felt fine. I cleared all the tests, but it was pretty apparent there was an injury there. I’d rather be a little on the safe side, I guess. I felt fine for the past 10 days at least and have been skating good and no symptoms,” he said.

“We were all on the same page. There’s a lot of unknowns about it still within the medical world, so even passing all the tests and stuff it pretty was my decision with other people’s input with when you’re comfortable playing. Obviously, there’s not too much of a rush getting back. I wanted to feel comfortable come playoff time that I was ready to play.”

It wasn’t like Copp woke him up every 45 minutes or patted his forehead with a cold compress, but having his company was much appreciated, Trouba said.

“(I) went home with Andy Copp and was fine all night, we talked, it was normal,” he said. “He just came over and spent the night and made sure everything was fine going forward. Symptoms can appear later, but everything was fine. We had a nice little sleepover like we’ve had growing up as kids, so it was like old times.”

Copp, another of the Jets’ strong Michigan contingent, said he was glad to be of service.

“I knew right after the game, before I even talked to him, I was spending the night at his house to make sure everything was OK. He was off his electronics and we were sitting there talking for a long time and it was definitely a weird experience, but he’d do the same thing for me under the same situation,” said Copp, who has had two concussions in life, including one last year with the Jets.

“I listened to what the trainers and doctors were saying and reported back to them if anything drastic was going on. I would say I was more Nurse Copp than M.D. Copp. I was more there in a support role. When you’re alone and something like that happens, you think too much and put yourself in a bad spot mentally. I would do that in a heartbeat for any of these guys.”

As he often does, Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice went for the punchline, as it were, when asked what convinced him Trouba was good to go.

“Because he threatened to beat me (up) if I didn’t put him in and I think he can. He’s younger than I am,” Maurice said.

“He and (Morrissey) need to get back to speed. I was, quite honestly, quite surprised with how he came back from his last injury (considering) it was long-term. He went right back into the lineup and looked like he hadn’t missed a game. That’s where we are now expecting him to come into. He’s a big part of our blue line.”

Trouba’s plan was to stick to the same basic approach at Air Canada Centre as he did when he returned from the long layoff on March 15 with a two-assist performance against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks in a 6-2 Jets victory.

“I just went though the coming-back part so I know what to expect in a game coming back,” Trouba said.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell